Identity and Ageing: 'Learning to Be' as an Older Adult

by Mark Cameron Tennant

Overview

Examining the fundamental social and cultural changes faced by older adults, this book explores ageing and the psychological issues encountered in ‘learning to be’ as an older person.

Many of these issues are present throughout the lifespan but take on a new complexion with advancing age, such as the significance of past, present and future in our lives; how we relate to others in our world; the impact of our gendered lives; the tension between autonomy and dependence, consumption and production, cognition and emotion; and the psychological impact of biological ageing. Adopting a lifespan developmental approach, the text draws together the psychology of late adulthood, contemporary views about identity and how we learn and develop in late adulthood.

Acknowledging the historical, social, cultural, biological and technological factors that impact the psychological experience of identity as we age, this book will be of interest to psychology and social work students studying lifespan development. It will also appeal more broadly to a range of professions that provide services for older adults.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032457765
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/29/2025
Pages:	158
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Mark Cameron Tennant is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia. Internationally known for his scholarly work on psychology and its application to lifespan development and adult education, he has published widely and was the recipient of the Cyril O. Houle Award for Literature in Adult Education for his book Psychology and Adult Learning.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Being one’s self

3. Past, present, and future

4. Self and others

5. Gendered lives

6. Consumption and production

7. Thinking and feeling

8. Autonomy and dependence

9. Biological ageing

Epilogue: Thinking about ageing